Peoria's Mobile Food Vehicle ordinance designates specific downtown vending locations (5 food trucks and 23 pushcarts annually) and otherwise prohibits stops within 30 ft of intersections, 300 ft of restaurants without permission, 500 ft of schools during school hours, 500 ft of events without registration, and inside Fulton Plaza or residential areas. Vendors cannot block entrances, bus stops, taxi stands, or handicap zones, or leave a truck unattended.
Peoria's Mobile Food Vehicle ordinance (Code of Ordinances Chapter 18, Article XVII) is unusual among Illinois municipalities in that it both imposes a strict distance-from-restaurant buffer and a downtown numeric cap. Vending zones are structured in three layers. First, the downtown core operates as a managed program with designated curbside and pushcart locations identified by the City; the program issues only 5 food truck licenses and up to 23 pushcart licenses annually, allocated by the City among approved operators (typically through an application or first-come process). Downtown licensees may operate at any time of day subject to health-department rules. Second, citywide outside of downtown, mobile food vehicles may operate on public right-of-way only under the following spatial restrictions: (1) no stop within 30 feet of an intersection; (2) no stop adjacent to a bus stop, taxi stand, or handicap zone; (3) no stop in front of a building entrance; (4) no stop within 300 feet of a restaurant unless the restaurant grants written permission; (5) no stop within 500 feet of an event venue unless the vendor has registered with the event; (6) no stop within 500 feet of a primary, middle, or secondary school or school playground when school is in session or during any school activities; (7) no stop in Fulton Plaza; and (8) no stop in a residential zoning district except as permitted by special event or property-owner consent. Unattended setups are prohibited. Third, mobile vending on fully private property with the owner's written consent is generally allowed without the city license (though Health Department licensing remains mandatory) and is not subject to the buffer rules to the same extent, though the school and restaurant buffers may still apply by ordinance. Hours of operation outside downtown are 7:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. The 2026 city license fee is waived but the $1,000 bond, $300,000/$500,000/$15,000 insurance, and Health Department food license remain mandatory.
Operating a mobile food vehicle at a prohibited location - within 30 feet of an intersection, within 300 feet of a restaurant without permission, within 500 feet of a school during school hours, within 500 feet of an event without registration, in Fulton Plaza, in a restricted residential area, blocking a building entrance, a bus stop, a taxi stand, or a handicap zone, or unattended - is enforceable by Peoria Code Enforcement and Peoria Police under Chapter 18, Article XVII. Each citation may be processed through the Peoria Administrative Hearing Officer with escalating civil fines, and the vendor may be required to relocate immediately. Operating in the downtown core without one of the limited downtown licenses (5 food truck or 23 pushcart spots) is independently citable. Failure to register with a special event but operating within 500 feet of it is independently citable. Repeated location violations may support non-renewal or revocation of the annual Mobile Food Vehicle License. Sales without remitting the 2% municipal food and beverage tax is enforceable by the Peoria Finance Department.
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